Flint's homicide epidemic: 86 percent of homicides occurred within three days of another

FLINT, MI – When a homicide occurs in Flint, more are likely to follow.

Homicides in Flint are an epidemic and are contagious, said a Minnesota-based researcher who has studied Flint killings.

Flint homicides this year appear to happen in clusters, a Flint Journal
analysis showed. All but seven -- 86 percent -- of the 52 homicides were within three days of
another one. There were eight times this year when homicides occurred on
consecutive days.

One recent homicide appears to have some sort of relation to
a previous killing. Rodrick Garner was shot and killed around 1 a.m. Sept. 16
on East York Avenue while attending a vigil for Levi Brazzil III, who was
gunned down four days earlier on Richfield Road. Police have said there may be
a connection in the case.

Garner's mother, Peggy Garner, said she feels that her son
was caught in the crossfire of a fight that wasn't his. He was friends with Brazzil's
sister, and was at the vigil to show support, his mother said.

Brett Carlsen | Mlive.comPolice investigate a homicide scene at River Park Apartments in Flint, where a 16-year-old was shot and killed July 22.

"It's horrible, because I feel that the people who did it
also killed the girl's brother," said Peggy Garner. "Why shoot up the family's
house? You caused enough harm to the family already. Why would you go to shoot up
a vigil? I really just can't understand. My son was at the wrong place at the
wrong time. He had nothing to do with whatever was going on over there."

She described Garner as a loving father of a 6-year-old boy
who was not confrontational with anyone. She said her son was hesitant about
going into that neighborhood because of the known violence.

In contrast to the days of deadly violence, the city
had long lulls without a killing. Flint went without a homicide more than a
month, from March 6 to April 7, and then just short of a month, from Aug. 14 to
Sept. 8.

But after both periods of quiet, Flint was then bombarded with a series
of slayings. From April 8 to April 18, Flint saw five killings and had three
more from April 27-April 30. After the lull in late August and early
September, the city was hammered again. From Sept. 9 through Sept. 17, there
were seven killings.

Griffin Moores | MLive.comShirletta Perkins speaks at DeVincio D. Lewis' funeral held at Swanson Funeral Home in Flint, Mich. on Saturday. Lewis was shot to death earlier this month in Flint.

Flint police Capt. T.P. Johnson said there is sometimes a
suspicion that certain homicides are related, although he did not provide
specifics. The facts would come out at a trial, he said.

As for the fact that homicides seem to happen in short bursts of time, Johnson said there is no real rhyme nor reason to the killing.

"There's never been a pattern that's been identifiable on a
consistent basis," he said.

In 2010, in which Flint set a record for homicides (66), the
Minnesota-based Center for Homicide Research did a statistical analysis of
Flint's slayings. The center concluded that the homicides were an epidemic and that they
were contagious. There were 47 instances in 2010 when at least two homicides
occurred within five days of each other, the study said.

The author of the study, Dallas Drake, said Flint's homicide
rate is still contagious.

"(Flint has) reached a new position of normality of
homicide," he said. "It's normal that this is how problems are solved."

The fact that the police department's force has been
depleted in the last few years emboldens people, he said.

"What you have are people who know that they can get away
with it because there is an already high crime rate," he said. "They are emboldened
by the fact there aren't capable guardians in the city."

A solution may not necessarily come from the police
department, but it may come from within the social structure of families and religious
organizations, Drake said.

The homicide of DeVincio Lewis, 21, has left his family
reeling. Lewis was gunned down around 7 a.m. Sept. 16 while walking in the area
of Lawndale Avenue, just north of Pasadena Avenue. He was on his way to buy a cigarette,
said his mother.

He was one of three homicide victims that day. She called
the violence against her son and all the violence the day of her son's death
senseless.

"I don't understand people," said Lewis' mother, Trina Lewis
young. "Why they kill not just my son, but anybody. I don't even know what to
say. Just to rob somebody who's just going to purchase a single cigarette, it
just doesn't make sense."